Vanessa Ganguin and Philip Trott ranked in Legal 500’s Hall of Fame again for 2026

1 October 2025

The firm would like to thank all our clients, colleagues, peers and referrers who gave the firm such warm testimonials for the 2026 Legal 500 UK guide to law firms.

Once again, the legal guide ranks both Managing Partner Vanessa Ganguin and Senior Counsel Philip Trott in its Hall of Fame and the department is highly ranked for both Personal and Business Immigration.

The famous legal guide also commends Ben Maitland for all personal immigration matters and expanding the firm’s Global Talent visa offering, assisting clients across the arts, science and digital tech sectors. Both Ben Maitland and Ross Kennedy receive glowing testimonials from clients and referrers.

Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law is among a handful of immigration firms to receive a Client Satisfaction stamp of approval for both Personal Immigration and Business Immigration. According to the guide, “Client Satisfaction accolades are awarded to law firms who achieve exceptionally high scores for client service and client experience in our annual survey of hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide.”

The Client Satisfaction accolade is given to the top 30% of firms in each jurisdiction according to how they score for client service based on surveys of aspects of the service provided, such as quality of lawyers, bill and value for money, industry knowledge and consistency of service, as well as surveying customer experience based on how likely clients are to recommend us.

‘Genuine care, expertise and personal approach’ to Personal Immigration

On Personal Immigration, the Legal 500 UK guide 2026 says: “Highlighted for a combination of ‘genuine care, expertise and personal approach’, the team at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law is well-equipped to advise on the full spectrum of immigration matters, with an expanding Global Talent visa practice. The highly regarded Vanessa Ganguin has a longstanding immigration appeals practice, spanning personal immigration, asylum, human rights and nationality cases. Philip Trott boasts more than four decades of experience advising high-profile clients in complex discretionary applications and national security matters, while Ben Maitland is a key contact for support on various personal immigration routes.”

“Highly regarded’ for Business Immigration

The latest Legal 500 guide also ranks the firm highly for Business Immigration. It says: “The highly regarded team at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law stands out for ‘the strength of its team members, its responsiveness and industry knowledge’, advising on all areas of UK immigration and nationality law. Considered ’a clear expert in her field’, practice head Vanessa Ganguin harnesses three decades of business, personal and human rights immigration expertise. Immigration law heavyweight Philip Trott advises on discretionary applications outside the Immigration Rules, while Ben Maitland has expanded the firm’s Global Talent visa offering, assisting clients across the arts, science and digital tech sectors.”

The Legal 500 quotes kind testimonials given by our clients and referrers:

“Vanessa and her team are highly knowledgeable and provide excellent, clear guidance and advice to us.”

“Vanessa Ganguin is the best in the business: there is no one we’d rather have helping us with immigration matters.”

“The team at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law was responsive, knowledgeable, and swift at solving complex immigration issues.”

“Ben Maitland is very knowledgeable and approachable.”

“The key with Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law, and what makes the team stand out, is the strength of its team members, its responsiveness and industry knowledge. We see very strong responses from their team, both in timing and quality, and feel that their personnel are thought leaders in the UK immigration law field.”

“The team has deep expertise in their field of practice.”

“I found Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law to be extremely knowledgeable and clear, and timely with communications.”

“This immigration team stands out for their genuine care, expertise, and personal approach. They offer clear, honest advice tailored to your specific situation. In my experience with the EU Settlement Scheme, I found them to be knowledgeable, responsive, and supportive every step of the way. Unlike more transactional firms, they build trust through empathy and tailored guidance, creating a space where you feel comfortable and confident. Their people-first mindset and modern, flexible approach make them a standout choice for anyone navigating the immigration process.”

“The experience I had working with the firm was very professional and thoroughly efficient.”

The firm is very grateful for all our kind clients and referrers who provided such glowing testimonials to the Legal 500 research team and other legal guides every year.

Alex Piletska joins Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law

In other great news, the firm’s personal immigration and nationality advice has been greatly bolstered by the addition of our new highly-regarded Senior Associate Alex Piletska to the team. Alex Piletska has a wealth of experience in immigration and is able to advise on a wide range of cases, including family and human rights applications, as well as skilled worker migration.  She has a particular interest in complex nationality cases, Adult Dependent Relative applications, Judicial Review and technical procedural issues like validity and variations.

Alex is a co-founder of the Ukraine Advice Project UK, which linked qualified lawyers to Ukrainians affected by the conflict seeking legal immigration and asylum advice. To date, the project won multiple awards, signed up more than 600 lawyers and helped more than 4,000 families escaping the conflict. She is ranked an “associate to watch” in Chambers and Partners 2023, 2024 and 2025. She was also ranked as an EDI (‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’) Champion in 2023 and 2024 and has been mentioned as a key lawyer in the Legal 500 in 2024 and 2025.

Chambers High Net Worth ranks Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law in top tier

Earlier this summer, Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law was ranked among the top tier of advisers in the Chambers High Net Worth 2025 directory. As well as the firm top ranked, the prestigious guide to private client service providers ranked Vanessa Ganguin in Band One and Philip Trott as a “Senior Statesperson” in immigration law again. “Vanessa Ganguin provides a superior level of customer service and care. The team has some of the finest legal talent in the UK,” the guide said.

Philip Trott awarded Outstanding Contribution Award

Also in July, in a glittering ceremony at the Tower of London celebrating firms and advisers to the private client sector, Philip Trott was also recognised with an Outstanding Contributions Award at the Chambers High Net Worth Awards 2025. At the end of an evening of awards for HNW service providers, Philip Trott, once referred to as “the godfather of immigration law” by Chambers High Net Worth for the breadth of his work in UK immigration with individuals and companies, was awarded the Outstanding Contribution award by Simon Christian, Global Research Director at Chambers and Partners, publishers of the Chambers UK and Chambers High Net Worth guides.

“In the 2025 High Net Worth guide, due out in a couple of weeks’ time, we quote an international interviewee saying he is ‘my first call for anything immigration-related in the UK’”, said Simon Christian introducing the award. He added that a search through the Chambers library found Philip’s first appearance in the world’s biggest guide to legal professionals in the 1994-1995 edition. “By the time of the 2018 High Net Worth guide,” he added, “we quoted a fellow lawyer as saying ‘I couldn’t imagine an immigration world without him. He’s like the oracle – the fountain of immigration knowledge.’ We’ve also described him as a ‘superstar immigration lawyer’, ‘the godfather of immigration law’ and ‘the go-to guy for anything horrendously complex’.”

With a glittering immigration career spanning decades, Philip Trott has also been described by Chambers as “a legendary figure in immigration law” according to The Spear’s 500 Top Recommended Immigration Lawyers. Philip’s clients have ranged from refugees to movie stars, charities and educational institutions to multinational blue chip brands.

He has often been a first phone call for high net worth individuals coming to work and live in Britain, especially those with tricky immigration issues, including criminality. Much of Philip’s immigration work with HNW clients has involved the music and entertainment industries. His immigration advice has led to him being dragged onto the stage at Glastonbury Festival, into private jets, VIP lounges and various news headlines and interviews.

Other recent accolades for Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law

Vanessa Ganguin, Philip Trott and the firm were also ranked highly in both Personal Immigration and Business Immigration in this year’s Chambers and Partners Chambers UK legal directory.

The firm also regularly features in The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom – published by Best Lawyers® based on peer reviews. Vanessa Ganguin and Philip Trott are also ranked as Thought Leaders in Corporate Immigration by Who’s Who Legal.